Culture and technology guide
Interactive atlas of the 21 hand landmarks
Inspect MediaPipe’s coordinate map from wrist to fingertips and learn what computer vision can locate—and what those points cannot tell you about a person.
Young LIN — HandFuture independent developer and content editor · Updated:
Where the 21 points come from
MediaPipe represents one hand with 21 standard landmark indices. Index 0 is the wrist; 1–4 follow the thumb; 5–8 the index finger; 9–12 the middle finger; 13–16 the ring finger; and 17–20 the little finger. Each result contains positions normalized to image dimensions. These are model estimates, not physical dots present on the skin.
The atlas below pairs each index with its standard English name and a plain-language location. Select a point on the diagram or in the list, using a pointer or keyboard. The synchronized explanation makes the program’s input inspectable instead of reducing it to an unexplained set of numbers.
Reading the joint abbreviations
MCP refers to the metacarpophalangeal area where a finger meets the palm. PIP and DIP describe the middle and end interphalangeal joints; TIP is the fingertip. The thumb has a different arrangement labeled CMC, MCP, IP, and TIP. A two-dimensional estimate near these anatomical locations is not a clinical examination.
Connecting neighboring landmarks creates a skeleton-like visual check. It can reveal whether the model ordered the fingers plausibly and can support gesture interfaces. The connections do not trace the life, head, heart, fate, or any other palm crease.
Observation is not personal inference
Coordinates can describe relative geometry within one image: whether a fingertip sits above the wrist, how far apart two estimated points are, or which handedness the model reports. Camera angle, perspective, lens characteristics, and occlusion all change the values, so separate photos are not automatically comparable body measurements.
No landmark contains age, personality, health, occupation, wealth, relationship, or future-event information. Any reflection text selected after detection is a separately authored entertainment prompt. It is not a personal fact discovered by the model.
- Appropriate: showing positions, connections, and detection status.
- Not appropriate: crease reading, diagnosis, personality scoring, or prediction.
- Pain or health concerns require assessment by a qualified health professional.